Chapter 39
No matter how majestic the El Berg Mountains were as the elves' backyard, it was still dangerous to travel together in the dead of night. So the elves stayed overnight at the frontier settlement.
Naturally, this included Pina, who had collapsed as if fainting. When she awoke again, it was early morning, with roosters crowing.
Despite having just woken up, Pina's eyes were incredibly clear and sharp.
As she rose from her spot, steadying herself on the ground, she spotted me and immediately approached.
"Did you sleep well, Miss Pina?"
"...Yes, Sir Elang."
She seemed to have something she wanted to say, standing before me for a while, fidgeting and keeping her gaze lowered.
A quick glance at her face showed it was still expressionless, but it had turned bright red as if embarrassed.
"Um..."
Pina raised her head.
When her small, youthful lips parted, I felt as if my mind was momentarily escaping my brain.
"...Since I'm not yet of age to bear children, I hope you can wait about six years."
"...Pardon?"
"Mother told me that's what conquerors do. They subdue a country and impregnate the most influential person there."
While not entirely incorrect, it wasn't something that should come from the mouth of a child barely over ten years old.
In this world, teaching how to deal with such situations might be commonplace, but hearing it directly made my mind reel.
Whether she knew what pregnancy was or how it happened, Pina stroked her lower abdomen.
The look in her eyes as she gazed at her belly was so profound that as I quietly observed her, I was overwhelmed by the urge to blow my own head off.
"Uh... There's no need for pregnancy."
"Wasn't 'give everything' meant to imply pregnancy?"
The idea of offering up one's uterus and eggs when I said "give everything" hadn't crossed my mind.
I wasn't an invader to begin with, and I certainly wasn't some lunatic who wanted to impregnate children.
I'd just recited some plausible lines to prevent suicide, but how did it end up like this?
Trying my best to hide the feeling that my head was about to explode, I forced myself to appear calm as I spoke to Pina.
"You can be plenty helpful to me in other ways. So don't think about mortgaging your life to help me."
"...What?"
"Miss Pina, you've been bound by the duties of a priestess all your life. Entrusting such responsibilities to someone as young as you should never have happened."
Not just her, but her mother and grandmother too had been bound by that duty, ending their lives without ever doing what they truly wanted.
After generations, they could finally be free from the priestess's duty. I couldn't bind her with the chains of pregnancy and children now.
That wasn't what I wanted, and I'm sure the Mountain God and her mother would feel the same.
"Think about your own happiness. That's what will help me the most."
"...My happiness?"
"Yes, your happiness leads to my happiness. So don't hesitate—live as you want, do what you want."
The concept of freedom seemed still difficult for Pina to grasp. She couldn't answer right away and hesitated for a while.
Eventually, the words that came from her mouth were a timid "...I'll try."
Freedom was still a challenging concept for Pina, who had lived her entire life in a cage of duty.
But I believed that someday she would grasp her own freedom and happiness.
"...The conversation with the Mountain God is in a month."
More precisely, it was the day the ritual of offering sacrifices to the Mountain God would begin.
There were things to prepare, and there was no need to rush this matter, so that timing seemed appropriate.
"Until then, please make sure the sacrifices don't commit suicide or anything like that."
It would be no laughing matter if the crucial sacrifices killed themselves just as the sacrificial ritual was about to disappear.
"That's part of my usual duties, so I'm confident. Is there anything else?"
"If there are people in the tribe who harbor resentment towards me, I'd appreciate it if you could persuade them discreetly."
The most important thing in this matter was trust in me.
No matter what I said, it would be meaningless if people didn't believe me.
I briefly explained what I was going to do from now on and asked Pina for advice on how to proceed.
"Is there a good way to establish even a small foothold within the tribe?"
"...The feast you hosted has improved your image within the tribe from a suspicious outsider to a kind outsider. However, if you were to intervene in tribal affairs right away, it would create resentment."
So the first thing to do was not to intervene in tribal affairs and exert influence directly, but to intervene in external matters and exert influence indirectly.
For example, subjugating large magical beasts that had settled around the village, like this time.
Improving the roads used by elves and humans would also be good, but it was important not to appear too eager to gain favor.
"...I will pray for your success, Sir Elang."
"...Thank you."
Hearing the word "pray," I momentarily wondered, "To whom?" but didn't voice the question.
And so, I spent the month preparing for the coming day, improving the frontier settlement centered around the elven village.
Over the month, the frontier changed beyond recognition.
In exchange for providing the meat and hides of the magical beasts I hunted, I borrowed elven laborers to construct many buildings.
Last week, we completed a massive fence encircling the entire village, and set up watchtowers and temporary outposts in various spots on the mountain for knights and elves to rest.
Through shared labor and hunting, the initially awkward relationship between the elves and the frontier settlers transformed into something akin to close neighbors.
Considering future plans, I had to improve the elves' perception of us, even if it meant pushing ourselves.
Eventually, elven children would be born among these settlers, and we couldn't instill the notion that elves were enemies.
For the sake of someday making this public, I focused on mediating between the elves and the settlers.
However, as the day of sacrifice approached, this became increasingly difficult. The elves' visits gradually dwindled, likely because they thought I might turn hostile.
Because I had shown too much strength, some elves even pleaded with me.
They begged me not to fight the Mountain God, saying they would provide all the sacrifices from their side.
I reassured the anxious elves and sent them back, sensing that the time was approaching.
"...Sir Elang has agreed to meet the Mountain God with me."
It was the day before the day of sacrifice.
When I announced that I would meet the Mountain God along with Pina, the Mountain God's priestess, the elves were thrown into confusion.
Some believed I had submitted to the Mountain God, while false rumors circulated that I had brainwashed the priestess to join my side.
Finally, when the day of sacrifice arrived, Pina and I headed alone towards the Mountain God's altar.
The Mountain God's altar was in a clearing far from the village, where a massive stone statue in the shape of a human hand stood imposingly.
It bore a striking resemblance to the arm of the enormous creature I had seen in that memory.
Glancing at Pina, she nodded and pointed to the statue, saying,
"That is the Mountain God's arm. It's the arm the Mountain God left here. When the time for the ritual comes, it emerges from the ground and attaches this arm to its body."
"And then... it absorbs people?"
"Yes. When the Mountain God performs what they call assimilation, people are sucked in as if falling into a mud pit. The, the remains of the dead..."
"They've probably long since decomposed and returned to the earth. It's likely impossible to recover them now."
"...I see."
Pina explained that when elves die, they are buried as a way of sending them to the Mountain God's side.
If the Mountain God had no intention of desecrating the dead, there was no need to forcibly recover them, she seemed to resign herself.
"...Perhaps Mother would prefer to remain in the Mountain God's embrace. Despite her fear, she truly respected the Mountain God."
"The protection until now has been real, so I can fully understand the need for sacrifices."
We composed ourselves and waited for the Mountain God.
As the sun disappeared behind the mountains and the moon rose to the center of the star-studded night sky.
BOOM!!
With an earth-shaking roar, the Mountain God appeared.
Just as I had seen in that memory, the Mountain God was enormous.
I had guessed from the arm, but it was several times larger than I had expected, leaving me speechless.
When it bent down to look at us, the stars in the night sky were completely obscured, enveloping our vision in darkness with no visible end.
"Who's this? A new human?"
The spirit's distinctive voice reached my ears.
As the old woman had said, the Mountain God's voice was closer to that of a child than a mature adult.
Blocking the sound from reaching the elves outside so that the Mountain God's voice wouldn't reach them, I spoke to it.
"...There will be no more sacrifices from today."
"Huh?"
It tilted its head as if not understanding.
Though I couldn't actually see it, the darkness before my eyes seemed to twist slightly, suggesting its confusion.
I explained to the spirit, in terms it could understand, what assimilation was and what had happened to the people who had been assimilated so far.
"Is, is that true...?"
To put it simply, things went well.
So well, in fact, that I couldn't help but wonder what all the sacrifices up until now had been for.
For a while, the sound of the Mountain God crying and sobbing continued, and beside me, Pina's grip on my hand gradually tightened.
"I, I really didn't know... It seemed like we were together that way. I was just so lonely...!!"
Like a child who had done something wrong and didn't know what to do, the Mountain God kept making excuses even as it cried.
We neither stopped it nor scolded it, saying what did it matter.
We simply listened to its words, allowing it to sort out its feelings a little.
"It's not your fault. It was all just an unfortunate accident."
"B-but..."
"If a mistake was made, all you need to do is reflect on it and correct it. If you still want to be with humans, couldn't you help us?"
"Sniff... Y-yes. What should I do?"
"It's simple."
Just stay still.
*****
Watching the place where Elang had departed, the elves trembled with anxiety, not knowing what to do.
If Elang won, they would lose the Mountain God's protection. Conversely, if Elang lost, the entire settlement below the mountain might become their enemy.
Of course, with the Mountain God's power, annihilating the settlement without Elang would be child's play.
However, perhaps because of the month or so they had spent together, they couldn't bear the thought of seeing those people sinking into the ground, bleeding.
So the elves all prayed that Elang would submit to the Mountain God, hoping this matter would conclude in a way that brought peace to everyone.
When the Mountain God's time finally came.
The Mountain God's voice, which would normally cover heaven and earth, fell silent, followed by a long period of silence.
Amidst the anxiety caused by this unexpected silence, suddenly, a thunderous roar split the sky, and lightning that seemed to blind the eyes struck the mountain.
"Kyaaah!!"
With a massive explosion, flames that looked as if they would burn the entire mountain rose high into the sky.
The earth split, and a small mountain was repeatedly lifted and dropped.
As an incomprehensible light colored the sky, making it seem as if the world was ending and being reborn, everyone trembled in fear.
SCREECH!!!
A pitch-black creature, darker than the night sky, raced across the heavens, rushing off somewhere.
Amidst the stunned silence following its sudden appearance, Elang appeared with Pina and stood in the center of the elven village.
At Elang's appearance, the tribe members, anticipating the worst outcome, squeezed their eyes shut.
Though their god whom they had served for so long had died, they lacked the courage to confront the human who had dared to kill a god.
"...Everyone, it's all over."
Elang's words sounded like a declaration of victory.
It seemed as if he was saying the Mountain God had died and everything was over, but the words that followed overturned everyone's expectations.
"The evil that was eating away at this village has finally disappeared!! Thanks to your sacrifices, the evil that was consuming the Mountain God's heart is gone!!"
Contrary to the expectation of hearing words of rebuke, what came from Elang's mouth was praise and comfort.
He said they had endured so well, that thanks to them, the Mountain God had regained its senses.
As everyone was taken aback by Elang's unstinting praise, the priestess—the most shunned yet simultaneously most trusted person in the village—spoke up.
"Everyone!! We've been deceived all this time!! The sacrifices were not the Mountain God's will!! We've all been fooled all along!!"
"Deceived? By whom?!"
A young man raised his hand and asked.
He was an elf from the hunting group who had come to plead with Elang the day before.
The one who answered was not Pina, who had spoken, but Elang, who stood in the sky above.
Elang replied to the man with a particularly confident voice.
"Excellent question!! The name of the evil god who deceived you and corrupted the Mountain God is Bel Zuma!! That evil god is the very one who deceived you all!!!"
"Bel... Zuma?"
If no one did anything wrong, if there's no one to blame, what should be done?
It's simple.
Just blame a god.
"Hey!! It wasn't me this time!!!"
"Who was it that gave power to the fraudster who impersonated you?"
"Oh."